Space to Ground bidirectional optical communication link at 5.6 Gbps and EDRS connectivity outlook

A Space to Ground bidirectional optical communication link at 5.6 Gbps has been verified between a low Earth orbit satellite (NFIRE) and a TESAT optical ground station hosted at the ESA site in Tenerife (Spain). It is the first demonstration of coherent laser communication from space to ground to our knowledge. ESA selected TESAT LCTs as the baseline for GMES satellites and the GEO-stationary EDRS (European Data Relay Satellite) system. Key parameter of GEO-class LCTs are: Range 45,000 km, user data rate 1.8 Gbps, power consumption about 160 W, footprint 68 cm × 68 cm, mass between 50 kg and 56 kg. For ease of integration into further mission architectures the LCT is fully autonomous, standardized with short delivery period of about 24 months and can be integrated on the satellite within one week. TESAT LCTs are therefore well suited to access Earth Observation payload data in real time over at least half an orbit via the geostationary ESA EDRS data relay network.